The paper sheet counting apparatus that receives paper sheets (bills and the like) of different types (denominations and the like) collectively in the hopper, feeds and transports the paper sheets one by one into the apparatus, and counts and displays the number of sheets for each type and the total number of sheets (in the case of bills, the number of sheets per denomination and the total amount) has been conventionally known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-178348).
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an internal structure of a general paper sheet counting apparatus. In FIG. 1, a paper sheet counting apparatus 1 includes a hopper 3 into which specific bills, which are paper sheets to be counted, are loaded, on an upper front of a casing 2. The bills filled in a stacked state in the hopper 3 are fed to a feeding mechanism 5 including a plurality of rollers by a kicker roller 4, and fed to a transport path 6 one by one by the feeding mechanism 5.
Passage sensors 8a, 8b, and 8c that detect a traveling state such as a skew degree of the bills being transported, and a counting and recognition sensor 8d for counting and recognizing the bills are provided along the way of the transport path 6, in addition to a plurality of drive rollers 7 and a drive roller 7a forming an inside of a turn portion. Determination of authenticity and denomination of the bills is performed by the counting and recognition sensor 8d, so that the number of sheets and the amount of the bills are counted. The bill determined to be a counting target by detection by the counting and recognition sensor 8d is received between blades of a rotating impeller 9, and aligned and stacked in a stacker 10. On the other hand, the bill excluded from the counting target by detection by the counting and recognition sensor 8d is delivered to a rejecting unit 13, due to downward swinging of a flipper 12 by an operation of a solenoid 11.
Such a paper sheet counting apparatus 1 needs to be formed in a compact shape, and therefore, the transport path 6 is a curved path having the turn portion for changing a transport direction of the paper sheets (bills) along the way. If there is a large difference in level in the turn portion of the transport path 6, the paper sheets being transported may come in contact with the difference, thereby causing running noise, and a front edge of the paper sheet may be damaged (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H9-297869).
FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagram of a part circled with a dotted line II (the turn portion of the transport path 6) in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, a drive roller 7A constituting the inside of the turn portion, and a first pinch roller 7B and a second pinch roller 7C that biases a transported paper sheet P against an outer peripheral surface of the drive roller 7A are provided in the turn portion of the transport path 6. A turn guide plate 15 is arranged along a circumference of the drive roller 7A between the first pinch roller 7B and the second pinch roller 7C, so that the paper sheet P is guided from a contact area C1 between the first pinch roller 7B and the drive roller 7A to a contact area C2 between the second pinch roller 7C and the drive roller 7A.
However, in the turn portion of the conventional paper sheet counting apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 2, the paper sheet P having passed the first pinch roller 7B with the transport direction being changed by the turn guide plate 15 proceeds along an inner peripheral surface of the turn guide plate 15, and runs into the second pinch roller 7C with a part thereof protruding from the inner peripheral surface of the turn guide plate 15 at a large incident angle. Therefore, in the conventional paper sheet counting apparatus 1, there is large noise generated due to the contact between the front edge of the bill P and the second pinch roller 7C, thereby causing a running noise problem. Further, there may be damage of the front edge of the bill P such as folding due to the contact, thereby causing a problem in that high transport speed cannot be realized.
In the paper sheet counting apparatus 1 of this type, for example, at the time of counting sales proceeds of a shop, the bill taken out from a sales bag or the like may be filled in the hopper 3. In this case, a coin may be put between the bills. If the bills are filled in the hopper 3 in such a state, not only the bill but also the coin may be fed to the transport path 6.
However, the conventional paper sheet counting apparatus 1 does not have a structure for preventing approach of a thin and hard foreign article (coin or the like) other than the paper sheets. Further, since the transport path 6 has substantially a linear shape, the foreign article such as the coin fed to the transport path 6 reaches the counting and recognition sensor 8d, which may damage the counting and recognition sensor 8d. Since the counting and recognition sensor 8d requires higher accuracy than the skew sensors 8a, 8b, and 8c, even a trivial flaw may cause a problem in the accuracy. Further, since the counting and recognition sensor 8d is a relatively expensive part, exchange thereof causes a cost increase.
In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a paper sheet counting apparatus in which a configuration of a transport mechanism is improved so that noise at the time of transporting the paper sheets is suppressed, and even if a thin and hard foreign article such as a coin is fed to the transport path, a relatively expensive counting and recognition sensor is not damaged.